Resume & Revive: The Thief and the Detective
by Regulus
Summary: The night the antidote to APTX is finished, a pair of robbers make off with the computer the cure's formula is stored on. What will Conan and Haibara do? What's the cause behind the recent murders popping up? And how does Kaitou Kid fit into it all?


Pulling off his glasses, he brought a hand up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. It was late, he was tired, and it had been a long, long day. All he wanted to do was to go to sleep. Unfortunately, things refused to go his way that day. Folding his glasses, Edogawa Conan set them on the table next to the couch and looked across the room at the pint-sized scientist clacking away at a keyboard. She had asked for him to come by on the grounds that maybe, just maybe, she might have a surprise for him before the day was up. And even if she hadn't told him to get over there, the Professor would be out of town for a few days on a trip to see a friend. Conan didn't want to just leave her by herself.

Glancing from Haibara to a clock on the wall, he saw that the day had been 'up' for about twelve minutes now. Either she wasn't paying attention, or she was too focused on finishing so she could go to bed, as well. Whatever the case, he didn't see why it couldn't wait for the following day. Which, he mused as he pushed himself up from his seat, had already arrived. As he crossed the room, he fought off a yawn. "Oi, Haibara, can't you just call it a night and-"

"There!" Exclaimed Haibara Ai suddenly, pushing back from the computer.

"There? There what?" Asked Conan, walking up to stand next to her chair.

"It's finished. In theory, anyway." Haibara said. "All that needs to be done is to actually create it and find a guinea pig."

Conan blinked owlishly for a moment before what she was saying clicked. "Wait, it's finished? You finally worked out how to reverse the APTX?"

"Again, in theory." Haibara said, turning in her chair and giving a triumphant, if very sleepy, smile at the equally-small detective. She then blew out a low sigh and, almost as if talking to herself, added, "I hope it doesn't make you grow any younger, anyway. That would be bothersome..."

Conan gave the girl a withering glare before turning to look at the computer screen. Whatever she had been typing may as well have been Greek to him, because he didn't understand a word of it. "This stuff makes sense to you?"

"_You _figure out how killers with too much free time go about their business, _I_ type a bunch of seemingly-random words on a computer and figure out how to reverse an age-regression drug. Same difference, Kudou-kun." Haibara said, smirking now.

"So you aren't a hundred percent sure it'll work? Not sure I want to risk it. I can barely get away with the stuff I do as is. If I turned into a toddler, I'd imagine solving crimes, much less doing anything else, would become impossible." Conan said, crossing his arms behind his head. "And we can't have you take it, because if something _does _go wrong, you're gonna need to be the one who fixes it... man, can't we have a _little _bit of luck here?"

"If we did, our lives wouldn't be very 'fun,' now would they?" Haibara said, hopping down from the chair and stretching. "I'll get to work on actually manufacturing it tomorrow. I should have everything I need, anyway."

"Isn't there some way to work out whether it'll do its job or not without me taking it? Don't get me wrong, Haibara, I appreciate the effort, I just don't want to end up having anyone changing my diapers again." Conan said, his tone dry.

Haibara tilted her head, looking thoughtful for a moment. "Perhaps. I'll think about it while I rest and see if I can come up with anything."

"Does that mean we can get some sleep now?" Asked Conan.

"I'm a little surprised that you aren't more excited. This is, after all, what you've been waiting for." Haibara said.

"It's after midnight and I'm in a body that isn't used to being awake this long." Conan said. "I'll do a jig for you in the morning, if you'd like."

"I think I'd prefer breakfast without the show, thanks." Haibara replied. Turning back to the computer, she hit a few buttons and shut it down for the night, smiling as the electronic hum faded out. "Once we're back to normal..."

"Yeah. We go after them with all we have." Conan said, glancing out a nearby window. "...Do you really think it's gonna work?"

"My antidote? 99.9 percent sure, yes." Haibara said. "But again..."

"Always room for error, huh?"

"Always."

Sighing, Conan nodded dejectedly. "Go and get changed. I'll just sleep in what I have on and change tomorrow morning after we eat."

"Oh, you're being a gentleman tonight, Kudou-kun? How charming." Haibara said, smirking again as she walked past the detective.

"Ha ha." Deadpanned Conan, glaring at the girl again. "What, do you want me joining you, then?"

"Your girlfriend would flay you alive." Haibara stated.

"She isn't my girlfriend." Conan argued.

"Yet."

"Haibara..."

Lifting her hands, Haibara disappeared around a corner, her voice calling out, "Give me five minutes. I should be in bed by then."

"Yeah, yeah..." Conan muttered. Figuring he'd do something while he waited, he walked around the Professor's house, turning off lights. If Haibara had been telling the truth, and the antidote worked as intended, it would be the last time he'd have to pace around a house that seemed too large for him. He didn't like it one bit. Though he'd long since gotten used to having shorter limbs again, the lack of any real strength was always in the back of his mind. As time had passed, he had also gotten increasingly paranoid. Most of the time, the paranoia had been over nothing. Most of the time. As he flipped off the last light, a lamp near the couch he had spent a majority of the evening on, he walked over to a window, drawing back the corner of the curtain to peer out it cautiously.

It was a quiet night in early winter, and he couldn't see anyone on the road. The street lights shone lazily, illuminating an empty street and a few parked cars, none of which triggered a feeling of panic in the young detective. Blowing out a quiet sigh, he stepped away from the curtain, silently cursing himself for still being so nervous. He tried not to let it bleed through his exterior personality, but he knew there were cracks in his armor, so to speak.

Heading for the bedroom, Conan knocked on the door and called out, "You decent in there, Haibara?"

"Just climbed into bed, actually." Came the reply.

Opening the door, Conan headed over for the Professor's bed, where he'd be sleeping that night. As he climbed onto it, he immediately flopped over onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. He didn't feel right and he wasn't sure why. Was it nervousness in regards to the antidote? Indeed, he'd have a lot of explaining to do. And then everyone would be in grave danger, so he and Haibara would have to help work out a way to take the Organization out before they were taken out themselves. Would the people he had hid the truth from be forgiving? Would they all make it through the inevitable confrontation alive?

"Something stuck in your craw, Kudou-kun?" Came Haibara's voice, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Too much in my head for this time of night, that's all." Said Conan through a sigh. He shifted around to get into bed properly, crossing his arms behind his head on the pillow. "Something feels off, Haibara."

"How so?" Asked the scientist.

Conan shook his head. "Can't say. Just been really uneasy for awhile now. I have a feeling I won't get much sleep tonight..."

"Detective's instincts?"

"Something like that."

"Try not to worry about anything. You do that too much as it is." Haibara stated. "At the very least, rest your eyes. Tomorrow's going to likely be very long."

"Well aware of that." Conan said. "...Hey, Haibara?"

"Hm?"

"...Nevermind. It can wait." Conan said, his voice quiet.

Haibara cracked open an eye and glanced over at Conan, who was fidgeting slightly. He didn't even seem to be aware of it himself, though she knew the signs quite well. He wasn't able to sit still when something was bothering him. Maybe he was just getting to be like she was, being scared of things that weren't there. If she knew him, and she liked to think that she did, then she was sure that he had probably stared out at least one or two windows while she had been changing clothes. Always keeping an eye out for a familiar black car. Always searching for unfortunately familiar faces. If he was jumping at shadows, then it was just as well that she had figured the formula for the antidote out. At least in their original bodies, they stood a better chance against the Organization.

"We'll stop them, so don't let it keep you awake." She finally said, closing her eye again. "There's no use worrying about the future."

"I suppose." Conan replied. "...Yeah, I'm being stupid. Sorry, Haibara. 'Night."

"Good night, Kudou-kun." Haibara murmured.

Conan blew out an almost inaudible sigh, turning to look at the girl who had spent most of her night frantically finishing up their cure. It had started with her and it would end with her. It seemed fitting. He had been living in fear for so long that he wasn't sure how easily he would adjust back into a normal lifestyle once the Organization was out of the picture. Maybe it was the fact that they had been quiet lately that was bugging him. He wasn't complaining about not running into them, but it helped keep tabs on them, at the very least. When they went silent, it meant something was probably going to happen. And he didn't like that thought one little bit.

Closing his eyes, Conan tried to settle in and get comfortable, though that feeling of paranoia still resounded in the back of his mind. He tried to ignore it, though it wasn't going peacefully. It would be almost an hour before his brain finally gave up and let him drift off.

A loud, jarring noise almost instantly shook him from that long-awaited rest, and he quickly sat upright. One bed over, Haibara had done the same. Both were staring at the door to the bedroom. In an instant, Haibara had quickly pulled off the covers, slid out of bed, and walked over to Conan's. She whispered, "The alarm didn't go off when the window was broken."

"I noticed." Conan replied, his voice as quiet as hers. Quickly leaving bed, he asked, "What do you think we should do?"

"Your shoes are out there, and you left your watch at the Agency." Haibara said. "We need to hide until we're sure it's safe."

"Damn it..." Conan hissed. He spun around and made the bed as quickly as his small frame would allow. He then repeated the process with Haibara's before dropping to the ground. "C'mon. Get under."

"Are you serious? That's the first place they'd look!" Whispered Haibara, looking from Conan to the door.

"Look, if you want to try squeezing into the Professor's dresser, be my guest. We don't have a lot of options here, Haibara!" Conan said. "Come on!"

With that, he had rolled his way under the Professor's bed. Only pausing for a moment, Haibara got down on the ground and followed him, ending up on her back next to him. There wasn't much room to move.

"If they find us, and they're armed..." Haibara said.

"If they were, we'd be shot anyway. We wouldn't be able to run from guns, Haibara." Conan said. Then, hearing a noise, he hissed, "Shh! Listen!"

Haibara closed her mouth and turned her head back in the direction the door was in. Footsteps were getting closer. Almost on instinct, a hand shot out and grabbed at one of Conan's, and she felt like her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. For his part, Conan gave Haibara's hand what he hoped felt like a reassuring squeeze, though he wasn't feeling very sure of himself at that moment, either.

There was quiet talking from the other room, though it was too low for either to make out. Suddenly, the door was flung open, causing both Conan and Haibara to freeze. Breathing becoming very shallow, they watched through the small gap that the bedding gave as a man wearing dark boots entered the room.

"Nobody here!" He called.

"Are you sure?" Came a voice from the living room.

"You want me to see if someone's hiding in the dresser? No one's in here, I said!"

"Then hurry up, come back and help me. The sooner we're out of here, the better!"

"Yeah, yeah..."

With that, the man left the room, though the door remained wide open. Haibara turned her head to look at Conan then, silently conveying a question to him. He shook his head, brow creased. Neither of the men sounded familiar at all. That didn't mean anything, though, and he knew that. There was a clatter from the other room, followed by one of the men swearing a blue streak. A few minutes later, all of the noise had stopped.

"...Stay here." Conan said, letting go of Haibara's hand. "I'm going to go see if they're gone..."

Haibara nodded, knowing that she'd never be able to stop him. He had that look in his eyes. She watched as the shrunken detective slowly crept his way over to the door. Apparently, he didn't see anyone, as he vanished. A few minutes later, a strangled cry sent a chill down her spine. Without thinking, she quickly got out from under the bed and rushed out of the bedroom.

Conan was on his knees in the middle of the living room. Nearby was a shattered window, obviously the entry point and the noise that had awakened the two of them. Running over, Haibara asked, "What is it? What happened?"

"It's gone." Said Conan, his eyes fixed on a point across the room. Haibara turned and followed his gaze. When she saw what he was looking at, her own legs gave out from under her and she dropped to the ground as well. Several things had been stolen from the Professor's house in the short time the criminals had been there. The only thing that either of the house's occupants cared about was the computer that had held their salvation. The only things left behind were the mouse and keyboard, and those had been knocked to the ground.

Slowly, after what felt like an eternity of sitting on the floor, the cold winter air coming in through the broken window, Conan pushed himself up. Turning, he walked over to where he had set his cell phone, which apparently the crooks hadn't found important enough to steal. Picking it up, he flipped it open and quickly dialed a number.

"...Professor? ...Yeah. I know what time it is. ...No, I'm alright. Haibara, too. I guess. Look..." He began, explaining the situation over the phone.

Haibara wasn't listening to any of it. All of that time spent trying to remember the formula from memory. All that time spent trying and failing constantly, each time getting a little closer to the solution. All that time spent staring at a monitor that wasn't there anymore. Pushing herself up, she padded across the room, picking up the mouse and the keyboard and setting them back in their places on the desk. She hadn't performed a backup to an external source, either. She had been so tired when she had finished that the only thing she had wanted was to close her eyes.

"Haibara? The Professor's going to call the police for us and he'll be home this afternoon sometime. I'll talk to the officers that come by, so..." Conan said, walking over. He paused mid-sentence, then asked, "...Now what?"

Letting out a quiet sigh, Haibara turned to face Conan, a weariness in her eyes. "Now I start over and hope I remember all of the important parts. I'm sorry, Kudou-kun. It looks like we won't be finishing anything anytime soon."

"Just once, I'd love being wrong about something." Conan said, blowing out a sigh of his own. "You alright?"

"Not particularly. But getting depressed over it won't solve the problem." Haibara said. "...I didn't recognize either of them."

"Yeah, neither did I. Nothing to go on outside of a pair of boots. I dunno if the cops will find any prints. If they took out the alarm, then they knew what they were doing." Conan said, shaking his head slowly. "Damn it all, why is our luck so awful? What did we do?"

"Well, I was made to create a poison. If this is anyone's bad luck, I'm afraid it's mine." Haibara said. From outside, the sound of sirens could be heard approaching. "...I'm going to go sit and think for awhile."

"Did they take your backup drive?" Asked Conan.

"I keep that somewhere safe." Haibara said. "They didn't take it. But it's been a few months. It's not a completely lost cause, but..."

"But it's going to probably be 'a few months', huh?" Conan finished, smiling wryly.

"Unfortunately."

Conan groaned. "Alright. Well, at least it isn't a total wash, I guess. And they didn't find us. I guess I should be grateful that we got away with as much as we did."

Haibara started back toward the bedroom, shrugging and glancing over her shoulder as she walked. "I'll have to wait until the Professor can get a new computer to see where I left off. After that, it's back to the usual grind."

"One of these days, things are going to go in our favor for once." Conan said, turning and heading for the front door.

"One of these days." Haibara echoed, disappearing into the bedroom and partially closing the door.

The next hour felt like eternity to Conan. The police had arrived quickly, and he told them what had happened in as much detail as he could. Though nothing could really be done until the Professor got back the next day, the officers said they'd make sure someone was always keeping an eye on the house for them. This helped put Conan at ease, though he silently wished someone would stay posted behind the house, as well.

When the officers had left, Conan went and sat on the couch, rubbing at the bridge of his nose slowly. "Haibara, you awake back there?" He called, glancing toward the bedroom door.

"Do you think either of us will get any sleep after that?" Haibara called back. A few seconds later and she had walked out of the bedroom, looking surly. "Of all the nights someone could have broken in and it had to be tonight?"

"I guess we should look on the bright side. The Professor wasn't here, and no one got hurt. Or killed. If the 'only' thing that happened is losing the computer, we got off easy. Small consolation for either of us, but it's all we have at the moment." Conan said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

Walking over and sitting on the other end of the couch, Haibara glanced toward the broken window as she replied, "For once, being small worked in our favor."

"If I had had my gear on hand, I would've been able to bring them down. Tranquilize the one who came to check the bedroom, then prep the soccer ball to take out the second one. It's my fault for letting my guard down." Conan muttered.

"No sense in placing blame, Kudou-kun." Haibara said, smirking faintly. "I suppose, at the very least, things can't get too much worse for us tonight."

"Saying things like that will only-"

"Conan-kun! Ai-chan!"

"-jinx us." Conan finished, deflating as he heard the all too familiar voice of one Mouri Ran. "Why the hell is she awake?"

"The sirens might have done the trick. Best go run interception. I really don't feel like changing clothes. You know she'll want us to go back to the Agency." Haibara said.

Hopping down from the couch as the front door opened, Conan met Ran halfway across the room, where he was promptly scooped up into a hug. Blinking owlishly, Conan switched to his little kid voice and started to ask, "R-Ran-neechan? Why are you-?"

"I couldn't sleep." Ran said, releasing Conan from the hug. "I heard the sirens on my way back from getting a drink. When I looked out the window, I saw the car coming this way... The officers out front told me what happened. Are you two alright?"

"We're fine, Ran-neechan." Conan said, smiling pleasantly. "We were able to hide under the beds to keep safe."

"But if they had looked under there..." Ran started.

"They seemed to be in a hurry." Haibara offered. "They took a lot of electronics, but that was about it."

"You two should get changed and come back with me. I'd feel a lot safer about it..." Ran said, standing back up and walking over to the broken window.

"The officers will be watching the place until the Professor gets home tomorrow. Er... later today. We should be alright here. It'd take some pretty dumb burglers to come back to a house they'd already robbed, wouldn't it?" Conan said.

"Besides, it's cold out there." Haibara said, making a big show of pouting.

"We'll probably go back to bed and sleep late..." Conan said. "We aren't going anywhere today, are we?"

Ran turned to face the two children, biting at her lower lip for a moment. "Not that I know of. It's Sunday, and dad's probably going to spend most of it playing cards with his friends. I was thinking of going to see a movie with Sonoko, but..."

Conan waved his hands dismissively. "We'll be fine, Ran-neechan! The officers will keep an eye on the house, and the Professor's going to be in sometime in the afternoon. Go and have fun, we'll be okay. We'll call over the Detective Boys in the morning. They'll help keep us busy."

"...Are you sure, Conan-kun?" Ran asked, walking over and kneeling. "It wouldn't be any trouble for the both of you to come over. Or for me to sleep here."

Making a show of letting out a long yawn, Conan blushed slightly. "Going out in that cold air would only wake me up. Too sleepy to go anywhere..."

"Speaking of," Haibara began, slipping off the couch, "I'm freezing out here. If it's all the same to you two, I'm going to go crawl back under the covers."

Conan smirked a little as he and Ran watched her leave the room, partially closing the bedroom door again. "She's made up her mind, Ran-neechan. I don't want to just leave her here by herself."

Ran smiled at this, ruffling Conan's hair. "Aww... well, alright. I'll go talk to the officers and tell them you've gone back to bed, then. But if anything else happens, call me, alright?"

"I promise." Conan said, nodding quickly.

Getting back up, Ran walked with Conan to the front door. "I'm just glad you two are alright. My heart was in my throat the entire run over. You're going to turn my hair grey before its time!"

Snorting, Conan grinned up at her. "I think you're just as sleepy as we are."

"I did take some medicine to help me get to sleep." Ran said, sighing a little. "I'd better get home, or else I'll wind up falling asleep in the lawn."

"No offense, Ran-neechan, but I don't think you'd make a very good lawn ornament." Conan said.

"Quiet, you." Ran said, smiling down at Conan. "I'll stop by in the morning to make sure everything's still okay before I head over to meet Sonoko, alright?"

"Alright. Good night, Ran-neechan!"

"Good night, Conan-kun. Hopefully..."

And with that, she left, leaving Conan to let out a slow breath. After making sure the door was locked, he headed back for the bedroom, feeling like the muscles in his neck and shoulders had knotted many times over. Slipping in and shutting the door behind him, he trudged over to his bed, crawled up onto it, and sprawled out.

"No good night kiss from your princess?" Asked Haibara, who was almost completely buried by the blankets on her bed.

"As tired as I am, I _will _throw a pillow at you." Conan said, staring blankly at the ceiling. Letting out another yawn, he groaned. "Dunno about you, but something still doesn't feel right about all this."

"What do you mean?" Asked Haibara, poking enough of her head out from the covers to look at Conan.

"Dunno. And I don't like that I don't know." Conan said, scowling. "If they see what's on that computer, and know someone smart enough to work it out, then we might start seeing reports of strange deaths. Deaths or shrinking. I'm going to be watching the news like a hawk. Because if they can work out that it's an antidote, they might be able to work out what it's an antidote for. And if they're able to replicate APTX, then we're in trouble."

Sighing, Haibara muttered, "Great. I wasn't worried about it quite enough. Thank you, Kudou-kun, now I really _won't _ be able to get any sleep tonight."

"Misery loves company." Conan said, bringing a hand up to rub at the back of his neck. "We're going to need some really strong coffee in the morning."

"Do you think we'd be able to trick those three into helping us keep an eye out?" Haibara asked.

"Those three? Who, the Detective Boys? Probably. We don't need to go into specifics, we need to just tell them to watch the news. Mitsuhiko's probably our best bet there, so maybe you should do the talking. He's like putty in your hands, you know." Conan said, smirking over at the girl across from him.

"Unfortunately." Haibara said. "We'll see what happens."

Letting out an almighty sigh, Conan finally moved enough to get back under the covers himself. It wasn't until then that he realized he was rather cold, too. He slid down a bit and pulled the blankets up over his head. "I think you have the right idea there, Haibara."

"Make sure you leave an opening somewhere for fresh air to get in." Haibara said.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm not stupid, you know." Conan said. "And if you say a _word _in response to that, I'll seriously throw a pillow."

"You seem to want to get into a pillow fight all of a sudden." Haibara said. "Is the sleep deprivation getting to you already, Kudou-kun?"

"Probably!" Conan said, making a face. "Not like I can help it. Stupid tiny body. A~a, this sucks..."

"Something we can agree on." Haibara said. "So, are we going to at least try to get some rest?"

"Dunno if my muscles'll let me, but at the very least, I'm gonna rest my eyes. They feel like they're burning." Conan said, sighing.

"Same. Well then, barring any more break-ins, good night, Kudou-kun."

"'Night, Haibara."

oOoOoOoOoOoOo

**Author's Notes**: Oh jeez, a fourth project. Like I'm not slacking on my writing as is. Well, this one isn't going to be anywhere near as long as the three other things I'm writing, so hopefully it won't take as long to get new chapters out. No promises, though! I'm tremendously lazy!

So here we have the first bit of a plot bunny that's been hounding me for ages. We're going to be bouncing back and forth between main characters for this. One chapter it'll be Conan, the next it'll be Kaito, then back again. I've already got a portion of chapter 2 written already. Started it when I was barely halfway through with this one, actually. Since the two main characters don't come together for awhile, it'll be easy to do that. And it might help me keep writing, since if I get stuck in one character's chapter, I can go write on the other's.

There'll be a little action, but it's also going to be slightly angsty and have a bunch of fluff making its way in eventually. Pairings will be Conan and Haibara, and then Kaito and Aoko.

Next chapter, we join Kaito in the middle of a heist gone to pot! Conan and Haibara aren't the only ones up late on this night...

Oh, also, since I found a map of Conan's Beika, I know how many blocks the Agency is from Kudou and Agasa's houses. The way I see it, the police car was on patrol, got the call, flipped their sirens on out front of the Agency (because that's the convenient way things happen in DC) and that's how Ran knew. Just in case it wasn't completely clear.


End file.
